Thousands of drivers 'refuse' to pay £25 fine due to 'midnight to midnight' rule

Only ONE in SEVEN drivers pay daily Transport for London fines after driving in the Ulez zone, new figures show. More than 25,000 Ulez fines were paid in May and roughly 188,000 penalties were issued to drivers, road users and motorists during the fifth month of the year.

Transport for London issued 188,745 penalties to drivers of non-compliant vehicles. Despite thousands of fines being sent out, only 25,275 have been paid since the original penalty date - or 13.4 per cent. Out of the 1,348,938 penalties issued since the Ulez expansion last August, 974,590 have still not been paid.

TfL said: “If no charge is purchased a penalty is issued. As we must wait until the charge payment period has expired, and then carry out some verification before issuing a penalty, it is usually around five to seven days after the journey that the penalty is issued.

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“When a PCN is issued the recipient has the right to challenge it by submitting representation to us.” TfL says: "You may be issued with a PCN if your vehicle does not meet ULEZ emissions standards and you are not exempt or registered for a 100% discount.

"You may be issued with a PCN if your vehicle does not meet the ULEZ emissions standards and you haven't paid the correct charge by midnight on the third day after travelling in the zone. You may be issued with a PCN if you paid the charge for an incorrect number plate (vehicle registration mark) or incorrect day of travel.

"You may be issued with a PCN if you paid by post less than 10 days before your date of travel." It adds: "Both UK and non-UK registered vehicles can get PCNs. Remember that the charging hours are from midnight to midnight.

"So you may get separate PCNs for each charging day that you have driven within the ULEZ."